The four Atlantis astronauts currently are answering questions from the news media during a live broadcast from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The news conference with Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim is live on NASA Television and at www.nasa.gov/ntv.
Afterward, the astronauts will spend time training at the pad as they practice emergency escape procedures and inspect the payloads inside Atlantis’ cargo bay. In addition, they’ll receive operations and payload briefings inside Kennedy’s Launch Control Center.
Yesterday the Space Shuttle Program held its program-level Flight Readiness Review at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The team recommended a “go” to proceed to the agency-level review next Tuesday, with a targeted July 8 launch date for the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station.
Technicians at the pad have completed their high-tech X-ray scans of the tops Atlantis’ external fuel tank stringer support beams. They’ll now scan the bottoms of those 21-foot long beams. Other technicians replaced the main fuel valve in space shuttle main engine No. 3 yesterday. Retesting of the valve is up next.